The final exam will be a word-limited take-home, due in my office,
4221 HSSB, at the end of the regular exam time (Thu, March 18, 2004, 11am).
The actual selection of items for the exam will be posted on the course
web site on Wed., 3/17, ca. 10am. At noon that day hard copies will be
available in the envelope outside my office door.
All answers must be typed. The exam is worth 15% of the final grade.
I. Identify and define the significance (3 @ 15 points
each=45% of the exam grade)
On the final exam you will be given six of the following terms,
from which you will select three. Your identification should include
an approximate date, which should situate the event correctly in relation
to other important events. Take special care to explain why the term
is significant in the context of German history.
| Auschwitz Trial
denazification
renazification
Grand Coalition
Prague Spring
Marshall Plan |
Ostpolitik
Walter Ulbricht
June 17, 1953
Nuremberg Trials
October 7, 1989
Byrnes' 1946 Stuttgart speech |
Spiegel Affair
Bitburg cemetery, May 1985
Willy Brandt
Leipzig Monday demonstrations
Erich Honecker
December 11, 1989 |
II. Essay question: You will have
to answer one of the following questions. (55% of the exam)
- West Germany and East Germany each pursued different strategies for
overcoming the legacies of dictatorship. Describe at least four programs
or events from four different decades for each country (thus 8 total),
and argue which country ultimately developed the most effective participatory
democracy. Note that you will also have to define what you understand
by "most effective participatory democracy."
- Heinrich Böll's novel Billiards at Half-Past Nine
takes place in 1958. When the story ends Joseph (b. 1936) and
Ruth (b. 1939) are both undecided about their future career paths. Describe
facets of their personalities and experiences to construct an argument
about how they will react to and participate in historical events from
the 1960s to the 1990s (select 6 from at least 3 different decades).
Consider how their individual values and experiences from their family
histories might influence them. You should also make a case why they
would not choose other options.
- We discussed various factors that came together to cause the fall
of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Drawing on both analytical descriptions
of historical events and personal stories (such as those in "The Promise,"
Harald Wagner and Frank Eigenfeld's stories, etc.), argue which two
factors were the most significant in toppling the Honecker government.
Note that in order to do this you should also make a case why two or
three other factors were less significant (refute counterarguments to
you claim).
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